The top 10 signs you might have diabetes

A long-term condition affection more than 300 million people throughout the world, diabetes is certainly nothing to joke about. Otherwise known as diabetes mellitus -- diabetes is a group of diseases resulting in too much sugar in the blood, or high blood glucose.

In case you didn't know, today is World Diabetes Day and we want to shed a little light! This global awareness campaign is held each year and was introduced in 1991 by the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization in response to the rise of diabetes around the world.

From type 1 to gestational diabetes, the condition affects everything from pregnancy to obesity. The causes range from physical inactive and eating the wrong foods to the body simply not producing insulin. And Melissa Joy Dobbins, a certified diabetes educator, says that it certainly doesn't come out of nowhere.

%shareLinks-quote="It's not like you wake up one day and all of a sudden you're thirsty and hungry all the time. It picks up gradually. Most people are unaware that they have diabetes in its early or even middle phases." type="quote" author=" Melissa Joy Dobbins, RD" authordesc="Certified Diabetes Educator in Illinois" isquoteoftheday="false"%

In order to help you understand the most important warning signs of diabetes, we've listed the top 10 things to look out for thanks to Readers Digest. Take a look below.

Photo: Getty

1. You're taking more bathroom breaks

When you have diabetes, your body becomes less efficient at breaking food down into sugar, so you have more sugar sitting in your bloodstream.

2. You're thirstier than usual

Urinating a lot will also make you feel parched.

3. You've lost a little weight

You lose some calories in the urine and you don't absorb all the calories from the sugar in your blood.

4. You feel shaky and hungry

If you've eaten something high in carbohydrates, your body shoots out a little too much insulin, and your glucose drops quickly. This makes you feel shaky, and you tend to crave carbs or sugar.

5. You're tired all the time

Ongoing fatigue is an important symptom to pay attention to; it might mean the food you're eating for energy isn't being broken down and used by cells as it's supposed to.

6. You're moody and grumpy

When your blood sugar is out of whack, you just don't feel well and might become more short-tempered.

7. Your vision seems blurry

In the early stages of diabetes, the eye lens is not focusing well because glucose builds up in the eye, which temporarily changes its shape.

8. Your cuts and scrapes heal more slowly

The immune system and the processes that help the body heal don't work so well.

9. Your feet tingly

Elevated sugar levels can cause complications well before you realize you have diabetes. One of these is mild nerve damage, which can cause numbness.

10. You're more prone to urinary tract and yeast infections

Higher levels of sugar in urine and the vagina can become a breeding ground for the bacteria.

Click through below for more info on preventing diabetes:

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